Army Commander's meet focuses on four studies to meet challenges

New Delhi, Oct 13 (IANS) To address operational and administrative issues in the Indian Army, the Army commanders' conference on Saturday deliberated four major studies to be implemented "progressively in a phased manner".

A statement released by the Ministry of Defence said: "The focus of the studies is holistic integration thereby enhancing the operational and functional efficiency, optimise budget expenditure, facilitate force modernization and address aspirations."

"The current operational, administrative and human resource challenges facing the Indian Army have been reviewed in detail and future course of actions has been deliberated," it said.

The Army commanders' conference, which began on Tuesday, is an apex level biannual event which formulates important policy decisions through collegiate deliberations. It will go on till October 15.

"The first study, based on re-organisation and rightsizing of the Indian Army is focused on the operational structures to make the Army efficient and future-ready by taking into account the operational situation on western and northern borders," the statement said.

The second study, it said, is based on the "Reorganisation of the Army Headquarters", and aims at integration and redundancies.

The 'Cadre Review of Officers' study, on the other hand, is aimed to incorporate the proposed "reorganization, restructuring and endeavours balanced cadre" to meet the aspirations of the officers' cadre, the Ministry said.

The collegium further deliberated on a longer tenure of flag ranks with a view to "ensuring better continuity, achievements of objectives and aspirations."

The last study on 'Review of Terms of Engagement of Rank and File' is aimed to harness "higher life expectancy, ensure younger profile and ensure due motivation" in the Indian Army.

On the fifth day of the conference, the collegium concluded that the above studies will be implemented progressively in a phased manner.

"The phases will comprise requisite refinements of the studies making them pragmatic for implementation," Defence Ministry said in a statement.

The collegium further deliberated on "enhancing linguistic skill in the Indian Army".

Union Minister of State for Defence Dr Subhash Bhamre addressed the Army Commanders' Conference and lauded the Army's efforts in contributing to nation-building and assured the government's commitment to facilitating the desired capability development.